Health insurance premiums fell in exactly one state in 2015

An analysis by Freedom Partners shows Mississippi was the only state to see a drop in health insurance premiums on the individual marketplace in 2015.

The amount wasn’t much, minus 0.2 percent, but it was better than the other 49 states which all had increases under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Mississippi Commissioner of Insurance Mike Chaney says the reason is simple: competition and a previous medical loss ratio snafu. The MLR is a requirement of the ACA that demands health insurance issuers submit data on the proportion of premium revenues spent on clinical services and quality improvement.

United Health Care and Magnolia Health Care, a subsidiary of Kansas City-based Centene, had premium decreases, while Humana had an increase on some of its plans. Chaney said Magnolia had lowered its rates by 25 percent because of a miscalculation on its MLR and some other factors.